Gaia's Gift
by Zoeth
Summary: Landing on a war torn world and separated from the others, Fai's life is saved by a fierce young woman with a dark past and a secret. When she offers the group her aid he is moved to try and help her. Can the two finally learn to be loved? Post-series/spoilers. Rated T for now, but may be M chapters later. FaiXOC
1. Landing

_Set after the completion of the manga when Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona travel dimensions as Syaoran's price to continue existing. Landing on a war torn world and separated from the others, Fai's life is saved by a fierce young woman with a dark past and a secret. When she offers the group her aid he is moved to try and help her. Can the two finally learn to be loved?_

Okay, this is my first ever fanfic, it's not something I've ever considered writing before, but something I've always done in my head. However in an aim to try and improve my writing I decided to take the plunge. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome as the whole point of this is to try and improve, but please be nice or you'll scare me off! :P

My writing style and imagination are quite novel-ish, so this will likely be quite long, and possibly a bit slow burning compared to some of the other stuff on here so please be patient, although I hope I manage to grab your interest from the start anyway! The majority of the plot is already sorted in my head and Chapter 2 is almost done, so hopefully I shall be able to update regularly.

It will be written in varying points of view, but mostly Fai and Kezia's (my OC). Romance will eventually form between them, but seeing as both are deeply emotionally scarred it will take some time to grow. This is mostly a journey of healing the wounds of a traumatic past (with what CLAMP did to their characters, Kezia's past had to be pretty bad to even hope to rival theirs!) and slowly learning to be loved.

As ever, Tsubasa characters and any references to the manga/anime belong to their rightful owners (CLAMP and any others who worked on the anime), I only claim ownership to my original characters and this particular plot.

Rated for references to sex, abuse, violence and torture, some seriously messed up ethics and probable use of bad language. Starting off fairly tame so it's rated T for now, but will probably have M rated chapters later on.

I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Landing**

* * *

Fai

The veil parted and Fai caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a fairly desolate urban sprawl before he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. He sighed. Mokona wasn't really getting any better at these landings. He slowly raised his head, waiting for the usual angry remark from Kurogane, but to his surprise it didn't come. The thin blonde pulled himself up and looked around at the world they had just landed in. In the distance he could see buildings that formed a skyline similar to the more urban worlds they had been to, but where he was standing there seemed to have been a wide avenue carved through the city. Rubble was sprawled all around him, in which he could make out what could possibly be the groundwork of several different buildings which had evidently been razed to the ground. There didn't seem to be a soul around, and that included Syaoran, Kurogane and Mokona. He sighed again. He supposed their separation wasn't really Mokona's fault. They probably should stick to the physical contact rule whilst travelling dimensions, but somehow they always ended up forgetting.

He looked around again, hoping that he wasn't so far from Mokona that her translation wouldn't work when he was suddenly knocked back to the ground again, hard. He felt a sharp pain in his hand, and looked around, struggling to find his feet amongst all the debris when a large stone thudded into the ground where he had just been standing, shattering on impact.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

Fai's head snapped round to the voice and saw the figure of a young woman hidden behind a curtain of incredibly long, wavy red hair which swished quite impressively as she drew a sword from her hip and cut another rock in two just before it sailed past her arm and into his head. In one smooth motion she brought it up to meet an identical sword in her other hand above her head and quickly sketched an intricate pattern in the air. Fai could see the shimmer the swords left as they danced in front of her and hear the faint whisper of her voice that accompanied the actions. This girl had magic, and fairly powerful magic too if he was any judge. When the spell was complete she turned to him and looked him over with a piercing, almost accusatory gaze. Her eyes were a fierce, bright red, looking not unlike Kurogane's when he was pissed off and about to slaughter something. It would probably be best to head that off seeing as the wizard seemed to be the only living thing within reach of those swords. He smiled and was about to thank her for saving his life when she cut him off.

"Are you hurt?"

Her words were blunt rather than friendly, and punctuated by the sound of two more rocks hitting the spell behind her and turning to dust. The fact that he could understand them was a good sign. Mokona must be close. She sheathed one of her swords, obviously holding faith in her enchantment.

"Me, no, I'm fine!" he sang, grinning even wider, deciding it would probably be best to try and befriend this ferocious woman.

"Then move!" she said, grabbing him above his elbow and pulling him up, "My ward won't last for long"

She gave him a firm shove in the direction of the buildings on the side of the rubble strip that were _not_ throwing rocks at them and began to run, keeping her free hand on his arm until she was sure he was definitely keeping pace. As far as he was concerned there was no reason not to follow her, at least she wasn't trying to stone him to death, even if she wasn't exactly friendly. When they seemed to be about halfway between the two rows of buildings she slowed slightly. He looked at her questioningly but before he could speak she explained that they were out of the range of whomever it was who had been throwing the stones.

"You can keep moving though!" she added, sternly. Fai just gave her another smile and her eyes narrowed in response, suspicion written all over her face.

Now that they were nearing the buildings it was easy to make out figures moving amongst them. They seemed to be in some sort of uniform and most of them were armed in one way or another. Soldiers. The walls of the ground floor rooms facing them had all been torn out and used to barricade the streets between them. This world seemed to be in the middle of a war. He hoped the others had landed somewhere safe. A row of large, wooden posts were positioned at regular intervals a few meters in front of the buildings, angled slightly towards the vast wasteland Fai had arrived in the middle of. As they walked between them he felt the slight tingle of magic and the girl sheathed her other sword. Interested, he paused and tried to look back at them, only to be rewarded with another shove.

As they entered the shadow of the buildings he was greeted by a familiar shout. The magician looked up to see Syaoran and Kurogane standing in one of the semi-rooms in front of him, with Mokona perched on Syaoran's head. A little knot of tension eased in the mage's mind. He knew Syaoran and Kurogane were more than capable of looking after themselves, but he worried nonetheless. He had changed so much on his travels with them that he wasn't entirely sure who he was now without the reassuring presence of his companions. He waved overenthusiastically and called out to them, grinning like an idiot to annoy Kurogane.

"Syaoran-kun! Kuro-ri! Mokona! Whoo-whee!"

Mokona gave a delighted squeal and, as soon as they had joined them in the semi-room with what appeared to be guards closing up behind them, she jumped into the Fai's arms, crying out his name.

"Fai-san, are you alright?" asked Syaoran, rushing forward like Mokona. Kurogane just stood in the corner, looking bored as per usual. Before he was able to answer, the redhead gave a nod and all of them, including Mokona, were suddenly grabbed and restrained by the guards around them. Mokona screamed ("Kyaaa!") and Kurogane looked pissed off, but before any of them could begin to fight back the redhead's sword had suddenly flown to Kurogane's throat.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't struggle," she said, her voice as calm and cool as ice, "We mean you no harm, provided that you mean us none in return, however this is war. We cannot be too careful. After all, you have just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of our perimeter. How am I to know you're not Mesa spies?"

She looked round at them slowly, assessing them, her sword arm staying firm at the ninja's throat. Fai didn't know if it was just the light, but her eyes seemed to have changed colour, they now looked a steely grey. He exchanged glances with Kurogane and Syaoran and they came to an unspoken agreement. They would not resist. For now.

"We have no reason to hurt you," Kurogane said, showing just how much he had changed since they first started travelling together. Back then he would have hurt anyone just for laying a hand on him. The girl's roving eyes settled on his

"We're travellers, and have only just arrived in this country," Syaoran supplied, "We don't even know who this Mesa is." One of her eyebrows rose.

"We're all very friendly really," Fai added, in his most cheerful voice, "Well except Kuro-tan over there, but some people are just grumpy!"

Her gaze turned back to him, so intense he felt like she was stripping away the layers of his mind to peer into the dark corners he'd rather left unseen. He would have squirmed if he wasn't being held so tightly.

"So you promise, that if we release you, you will not fight us?"

"We promise!" Fai exclaimed, grinning again and trying to pull his defences back into shape. The strange steel eyes held his for a moment longer, then she nodded again and lowered her sword. The guards holding them relaxed their grip. Mokona hopped back to Fai's shoulder and clung on to his ear.

"Take them upstairs," the woman ordered the nearest guard before turning back to them.

"I'll be with you in a minute. I trust you'll remember your promise."

They were led up stairs to a room with no windows where the only furnishings were a few ragged looking sofas and armchairs and a desk. It was impossible to tell what the room had been used for originally, but it now seemed to serve as a sort of rest room for off duty soldiers. The only soldiers in there are the moment however, were the ones who had escorted them up the stairs, who were now standing guard by the single door.

"It looks like they don't trust us to keep our promise after all," Kurogane muttered, looking at the soldiers with distaste. It was clear to Fai that he was planning a battle strategy in case they had to fight their way out of this. Although he hoped that wouldn't be necessary, his own eyes had been carefully scanning their surroundings, looking for weak points or escape routes and he was sure Syaoran had been doing the same. They had been at this for a long time after all. There were there for only a minute before the strange, copper haired girl entered.

"It's alright, you can wait outside," she told their guards, who looked slightly startled, but obeyed nonetheless. She closed the door behind them.

"You may as well sit down," she said, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Then, having evidently made a decision, she walked to the centre of the room, cupped her hands to her mouth and breathed a few words that Fai could not catch. Suddenly she spread her arms up to the ceiling as though she were throwing confetti and brought them down in a wide arc to her sides. Fai felt a surge of magic envelop the room.

"Now you may say whatever you wish, for none outside these walls shall hear a single thing uttered within them."

She looked thoughtful, as if she wasn't entirely sure about what she was doing.

"But doesn't that mean that if we were to attack you, you'd have no way of calling for help?" Kurogane asked suspiciously.

The redhead smiled. "If you were to attack me, I wouldn't need to call for help."

"You're that sure of your skill?"

"I'm that sure of _theirs_. If you are puppets of the Mesa, then I shall be able to defeat you. If you are not, then you have no reason to attack me, so I have no reason to measure my skill against yours."

She looked around, seeming to return from wherever she had been lost in thought.

"You really can sit down you know. I've already told you, I mean you no harm if you mean us none and I thought we'd established that you don't."

The ninja grunted and sat down heavily on one of the sofas, which creaked rather a lot as he did. Syaoran shrugged and sat on the sofa opposite, and Fai chose the armchair by the desk. The girl padded lightly across the floor towards him. She wore a light, green dress with a ragged, pointy hem. The neckline was asymmetrical, leaving one shoulder bare whilst the other was covered in a long flowing sleeve that was split at the elbow. She had a rather striking hourglass figure, emphasised by the criss-cross lacing at her waist and on her hips sat her sword belt and twin blades. Her red hair was plaited at the front and tied around her head to keep it out of her eyes, but flowed free at the back and reached almost past her hips. He noted that her legs and feet were bare apart from a thin strip of brown cloth which had been tied in complex patterns around her feet and up her calves. She was, he thought, rather pretty.

"This is for your hand," she said, passing him a strip of bleached linen. The magician took it, seeming confused until he looked at his right palm and found it oozing blood. He'd forgotten he'd hurt his hand when she'd pushed him to the ground. There hadn't been much time to think about it, and after all, he'd endured far worse pain.

"Thank you," he replied, binding the cloth around the wound.

"Fai didn't tell us he was hurt!" Mokona cried, hopping down to the mage's lap, looking concerned.

"It's nothing," Fai smiled, tying a knot in the bandage, "Hardly more than a scratch!"

"Do you want me to take a look at it?"

The question came from the redhead who was watching him, seemingly genuinely concerned. She didn't appear to Fai, to be able to figure out whether she wanted to kill him or save his life. So he smiled even wider and assured her that he was fine. She studied him for a moment with her piercing eyes and then lifted herself up to sit on the desk, suddenly becoming business-like.

"You say you're travellers, who have only just arrived in this country?"

"That's right!" Mokona chirped.

"Even though there are no travellers in this world, at least not ones who cross the country borders? And I would know if you were citizens of this land."

"Eh-heh… yeah." That was that cover story blown. How were they going to explain this now? Her eyes were shifting from face to face again, watching their every move.

"In that case you must have come from a different dimension then."

That surprised even Kurogane. They all stared at her and Mokona asked the question they were all wondering. They had met people who knew about dimension travel before, but they had always turned out to be rather important.

"How did you know?"

"'Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' It's an old proverb*. It's obvious that you're not from this world. That you travel between them is the only logical conclusion," she explained calmly. "However this still doesn't explain who you are, why you're here or what you want."

"We have to keep travelling between worlds, never staying in one for any length of time," Syaoran explained. "We have no way of choosing which world we visit next, so the fact that we came to yours is complete coincidence. Whilst we're here we only want a place to stay and food to eat. We're willing to work to pay for whatever we use."

Syaoran is always so earnest, Fai thought, that's a trait both of them share.

The redhead was staring at a point just above the boy's head. "There is no such thing as coincidence," she muttered, half to herself. "There is only hitsuzen."

Once again everyone stared at her.

"Where did you hear those words?" the ninja asked sharply.

"They are a truth," she replied simply, her eyes still lost in thought. When she focused them back on what was in front of her her manner seemed to have subtly changed.

"So you came here through hitsuzen coincidence, and will pledge that whilst you stay here you will not harm any that do not first harm you?"

The four travellers exchanged glances, then assured their agreement, with varying forms of enthusiasm. The girl smiled and nodded once, almost sadly, Fai thought.

"What are your names?"

"I'm Fai, the one with the brown hair is Syaoran-kun, and the scary black guy over there is Kuro-pii!"

"It's KUROGANE, you idiotic wizard!"

"And this little one is Mokona!" Fai continued, ignoring the ninja. The mage spouted the words almost ritualistically, he had said them so many times.

"Mokona is everyone's idol!" the little white creature pronounced, jumping onto the girl's lap. "Handshake! Handshake!"

The redhead smiled and took Mokona's little paw in her fingers.

"These are the names that you use amongst yourselves?"

"Well, yeah, that's what you asked for isn't it?" Kurogane said, looking confused.

"Then I don't mind that you've all kept your real names hidden."

Fai raised his eyebrows. This girl certainly had power if she could tell that the names they used were not their true ones. He noted that both Syaoran and Kurogane were looking surprised and Mokona was tilting her head to one side and blinking with interest.

"Hey! What's your name?" the little creature asked, seemingly unconcerned by the girl's surprising knowledge.

"Kezia." Her voice was soft, almost sorrowful.

"And is that your real name?" Kurogane asked, slightly sarcastically.

Kezia smiled whimsically and simply replied, "It is."

There was silence for a moment as Kezia gently stroked Mokona's head. Then she scooped her up in one palm and gracefully slid of the desk.

"None of you have lied to me, however this concerns the safety of my people. I can take no risk, no matter how small. I must be certain."

With this enigmatic statement she lifted Mokona to be level with her chest and raised her right hand so it hovered just in front of the white creature.

"Mokona, if you will allow me?"

"Mm-hmm, sure!"

The others watched with interest as Kezia closed her eyes and gently touched her middle finger to the jewel on Mokona's forehead. It seemed that they were all holding their breath, but Mokona was undisturbed by the girl's actions. After a moment she took her finger away, and opened her eyes with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Mokona," she said, giving the small, white creature a kiss. Mokona squealed with delight and kissed her back before she placed her on the desk.

"Syaoran, if I may?" she asked, walking over to stand in front of him.

Syaoran looked around, slightly concerned, but as Mokona appeared unharmed he agreed.

"Sure."

Kezia smiled again in thanks and brought her right hand up to touch her middle finger to his forehead, just as she had done with Mokona. That same, strange moment of stillness passed and she opened her eyes with a small nod and moved on to the ninja. Kurogane looked as though he might resist, but after a glance at both the boy and the creature he agreed. Then she turned to Fai.

A sudden apprehension rushed though him, but he answered her request with a cheerful smile. Whatever power she had, she obviously hadn't harmed Mokona or the others. She closed her eyes and brushed aside a lock of his golden hair to gently touch her finger to the precise centre of his forehead. For an instant he felt a serene calm wash over him, and felt, for the first time in his life, at peace. Then her touch was broken and real life flooded back in. Her eyes opened and met his, holding his gaze.

"You have magic," she said. It was not a question.

"As do you," he replied, his tone serious for the first time.

She simply smiled and continued, "And the boy, Syaoran, though not as powerful as yours.

" And you, little Mokona," she continued, turning and scooping Mokona up again, "Are a most wondrous creature!" Her tone was warm and cheery and the little white creature squealed with delight again as she fussed her between the ears. Whatever she had just done seemed to have changed her attitude towards them.

"I welcome you to this country. I apologise if our treatment of you has been a little discourteous, but I must do whatever necessary to ensure the safety of my people."

"I take it you have decided to trust us?" Fai asked, interested by her sudden change in manner.

"What exactly was it that you just did?" Kurogane asked, looking suspicious.

"I read your souls," she replied, as calmly as one might say, 'I shook your hand.'

* * *

Author's notes:

* This is actually a quote from the Sherlock Holmes novels I believe, and thus all credit goes to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this world, occasional bits and pieces from our culture will be presented as old proverbs or ancient culture, being little pieces of the world before the Mesa rule that they were able to find or cling on to - for more information see Chapter 2!

Gaia was the Ancient Greek Goddess of the earth, similar to the modern idea of Mother Earth. She is not directly worshipped in this story, but I thought the idea of her would appeal to the people of this world, given their past (again, explored more in Chapter 2) and so the name will be used/referenced fairly frequently.

The name Mesa is used in this world almost as a swear word (again, why will be explained in Chapter 2), however if the name means anything to you in the real world I apologise for it's negative connotations here! I thought of it from Half Life and Portal's Black Mesa (although it has nothing to do with them at all), thought it sounded quite good and couldn't think of anything else.


	2. A Tale of Captivity and War

Thank you so much to those who have read Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed it so far, so here you go:

**Chapter 2: A Tale of Captivity and War**, in which Fai and the others learn about the Mesa and the traumatic past of Kezia's world.

* * *

Fai

"You did what?"

Between them, Syaoran and Kurogane looked shocked, concerned and, on the ninja's part, a little angry. Fai couldn't blame them. The idea that someone had seen such a deep part of him, a part he had always considered must be dark and ugly, disturbed him. But though he knew he should, he couldn't bring himself to feel violated. The memory of the absolute peace he had felt at her touch was too strong in his mind.

"It's alright!" the redhead assured them, "I have no access to your mind, your thoughts or your memories. I know more about you from simply being here and watching, than I gathered from your souls."

"Why did you do it then?" The ninja still sounded wary, obviously not happy with the idea. But the fact that he still seemed calm suggested to the wizard that Kurogane too, had felt that same sense of peace and calm at her touch.

"The soul is the one thing incapable of lying," Kezia explained, "A person can believe a lie with every fibre of their being, and unless I already know that it is not the truth, I have no way of telling. But the soul is not touched by persuasion or beguiling. It will always remain pure, even if the mind and body are bent to another's will. To touch, just for a moment, the most basic essence of who and what you are, I can know whether you will be a threat to the people of this world." She paused as they took in this remarkable statement.

"Now, how long are you planning on staying here?"

They exchanged glances again, still taking in her sudden announcement that she had seen their souls.

"We don't know," Syaoran answered after a moment, "We can never stay in any given world for long, but we have no way of knowing just how long. It could be months, or just a few days."

"Very well then. You can stay with me whilst you are here."

That surprised the mage. She had gone from holding a sword to their throats to inviting them into her home in less than half an hour. He supposed that knowing a person's soul must make them easy to trust. He had no complaints though. An offer to take them into her home saved them the trouble of finding somewhere to stay, and he was much happier with a friendly Kezia, than one waving a sword in his face.

"That's very kind of you, Kezia-san," he said, smiling again, "Do you live near here?"

She laughed, bitterly. "No one lives near here anymore. Not since the uprising. I live in the town to the south, on the coast. It's a little distance, as no one wants to live near this accursed city, but it's an easy journey."

She reached up her hand and softly sang a few words in a strange language Fai couldn't understand, even with Mokona translating. He felt the magic that encased the room flow back into her. Then she turned to the door, smiling.

"Well, shall we be off?"

Mokona hopped onto her shoulder with an enthusiastic "Let's go!" as Kezia went to the door. The others moved more slowly, still rather taken aback by her abrupt change in mood. Syaoran caught the wizard's eye and shrugged, evidently seeing no reason not to go with her either. The fact that Mokona so obviously trusted this strange girl eased Fai's mind. Mokona had proved to be a good judge of character.

The soldiers standing guard outside the door looked rather surprised as Kezia appeared with the small white creature perched on her shoulder.

"I'm taking these men to Gaia," she informed them, smiling, "They are to be my guests."

The soldiers looked even more surprised at that, although somewhat relieved.

"They're safe then?" one asked, casting a quick look at the men through the door.

"They are."

The soldiers relaxed and bowed their heads, assuring her that they would inform the rest of the guard. She thanked them and lead the party back down some stairs and through a complicated string of shabby and mostly empty rooms. As they passed, the men and women in uniform stared at them and bowed their heads or saluted to Kezia. Whomever she was, she seemed to have some importance, Fai thought as she lead them through a final door and back into the daylight.

The scene that confronted them was almost more shocking than the wide avenue of rubble he had landed in. The city that lay before them was huge and showed obvious signs of the level of violence of the struggles that must have happened there. The tall buildings were dominated by gaping holes and shattered windows. Several of the structures were missing whole floors or had crumbled entirely, crushing their neighbours. The few walls still standing were scarred, pitted and cracked and looked as though they might collapse at any moment. The city had a stillness to it, a dreadful silence which spoke of pain and suffering and death. A chill ran through Fai's body, even though the sun warmed the concrete and debris around him. Kezia noticed and a small, sad smile crossed her face.

"Now you understand why no one lives near this city," she said, her voice filled with a deep regret.

"What happened here?" Kurogane asked, his eyes scanning the destruction. As a professional warrior he obviously understood the extent of the violence needed to cause such ruin.

"The uprising." Kezia sighed, her eyes lost in the wreckage around her. They walked in silence for a moment, sensing that she needed to compose herself before she told them more.

"Several years ago the Mesa controlled this world," she began, her voice calm but hinting an emotion so deep Fai couldn't quite place it. "We were their slaves, their playthings. There was not a single aspect of our lives they did not have dominion over. It was the same all over the world. A whole race of people, reduced to puppets. They controlled us by fear, propaganda, and by technology and education. They destroyed all knowledge they could find of life before their rule and attempted to indoctrinate us to believe only what they wanted us to know. But fear was their main weapon, and cruelty, and the fact that they had the power to implement it whenever they wished.

"They watched over all of us, over everything we said or did. We lived our lives as best we could, but they decided the course of them. You never knew what would happen to you the next day, whether they might decide to chose your life next for 'rearrangement'. The lucky ones were taken from their homes and their families and forced into a role they had no desire to fill. Others were taken away and never heard from again, though stories circulated of the Mesa's 'experiments' and the horrors they inflicted on those chosen for them. I don't know how many of them were true, or how many were created by the Mesa themselves to spread fear, but we never found any of those who had been taken. Anyone who rebelled or questioned the Mesa's rule were publically executed or tortured to within inches of their life then left to die on the streets. Such events were broadcast to every home, and it was treason not to watch or to try and help those who were being punished. Fear dominated every part of our lives."

They listened in grim silence, the harsh character of the ruined city around them seeming to grow as they listened to its past. They had visited worlds in poverty, war and suffering before, but it was something none of them could grow to accept or ignore. Fai watched Kezia as she spoke. Her back was straight, her shoulders set, her posture betraying no more emotion than her voice. But her eyes were clouded and downcast, not seeing the world in front of her.

"But it was fear, I think, which was their eventual downfall. No matter how desperate you make a person, no matter how much you make them long for any release from the pain of their world, you can never destroy their soul. Dampen it, truly, corrode it, torture it until it is so small that one barely feels its existence, but not destroy it completely. And there will always be those whose souls gain strength from such mistreatment. Those to whom it only kindles an irrepressible desire to right the wrongs that have been done to them.

"There was an underground, a resistance. They were small, secret, and virtually powerless but the fact that they existed was enough. And one day there came a girl, barely more than a child. She had suffered more than most, but held secret a power within her. She was able to resist the pain, the tortures the Mesa put her through and instead turn it into strength. Slowly knowledge of her spread throughout the people. Hope, which had scarcely existed before began to form. Rumour began to fly that she was an Angel, or a Goddess, sent to help us, to free us, to at last end our long torment. When she was strong enough she sought out the resistance, and together they formed a plan to overthrow the Mesa's domination. She became known as the Saviour and not even fear was enough to force people to side with the Mesa. When eventually we stuck back, they were overthrown. Our example encouraged the peoples of other countries, and, unlike us, being on the same landmass they were able to group together to greater advantage. And so the Mesa's rule was eradicated across the world."

She paused and sighed deeply.

"It was not without cost. We outnumbered them enormously and the Saviour was strong; with her power she stuck the Mesa devastating blows, but they had technology and weapons that far surpassed ours. Although we were eventually victorious, the dead were numbered in tens of thousands and our population had been decimated. Those across the waters were more successful, there being so many more of them, but only the Mesa had the resources and knowledge to cross the seas so they were unable to help us. We were able to confine the Mesa, but not destroy them completely.

"But it was enough. We were no longer their slaves. The Saviour became the ruler of this land and we set about rebuilding, to forge our own lives, free from conflict and suffering. We were able to salvage some of the Mesa's technology and information which we used to build our communities and protect ourselves, to ensure the Mesa would remain confined. This is where you find us now. Five years on we have carved a new life for ourselves and live in peace."

"Yet there is still war here," said Kurogane, referring to the place where they had landed and the soldiers there. Fai recalled the rocks that had been thrown at him. Had that been the Mesa she talked of?

"That is where what remains of the Mesa are confined. The Saviour protects us with a barrier, but the perimeter is there just in case."

"Why don't you just use the technology you took from them and kill them all and be done with it?"

Kezia shook her head. "Even with that the cost would still be too great. More of our blood would still be spilt and that the Saviour will not allow. Besides," she added, "This gives the restless youths a way to release their anger, to feel like they are still fighting against the Mesa."

"But they're not?" asked Syaoran, picking up on her words.

She smiled again, whimsically. "Not really. The Saviour's barrier is what really keeps the Mesa confined. But it helps them to think that way, so she doesn't really mind. A military presence of sorts here also helps keep people out of the city. You might have noticed that it's not really the safest of places to wonder about in."

They were following a fairly well defined path that had been mostly cleared of rubble and debris and was a safe distance from any buildings that might fall on them. But the rest of the city looked as though it might collapse at any moment. It stretched out for miles in every direction. They had walked a fair distance already whilst she talked, but there was no obvious end in sight to the mass of tumbled buildings.

"How far have we got left until we leave the city?" Fai asked.

"A fair way yet," she replied, "This was the city where we all lived under Mesa rule. None of us but the Mesa were able to venture to the land outside so it's really quite big. During the uprising the Mesa retreated to their sector, which is where we've confined them. They lived right in the centre, like a spider on a web, so it's quite a way to the perimeter and back. We're probably about half way now. It won't be long before we see the top of the wall."

"The wall?" Mokona asked.

"It's a massive structure, built so that no one could ever climb it. Only the top of it is really visible though, because they made it out of a substance like glass, only harder. They thought it would be more… _interesting_ for us to be able to see the beauty of the world we were never allowed to touch." Her tone was bitter.

"You must really hate these Mesa bastards," muttered Kurogane. He might be a ruthless trained assassin, thought Fai, smiling slightly, but he's got a strong sense of right and wrong hidden in there somewhere.

"No," Kezia replied, surprising them all. "I don't hate anyone. Hate only leads to pain. That's one thing I learnt whilst the Mesa ruled. If you hate something or someone, eventually it will consume you and your life will be made worse because of it. But that doesn't mean I'm not angry with the Mesa, or what they did to me and my people."

Her voice was hard as she finished speaking, and her eyes looked more like steel than ever. Now they were back in the daylight, Fai thought he must have imagined them looking red before. Perhaps it was the angle of the sun or something. She looked around at the city again and fell silent.

"You can see the wall now," she informed them after a few minutes, her hand pointing to a long black line in the distance, hovering above the buildings.

As they walked it loomed higher and higher and they began to realise the true immensity of the structure. Syaoran in particular was studying it with interest as they came closer and closer, but they all walked in silence. Fai knew Kezia was remembering the violence of the uprising and the pain of her captive life before and so they left her in peace. She carried Mokona in her arms, held against her chest, seeming to take some comfort from the small, rabbit-like creature.

By now they were almost at the base of the vast, transparent barrier that separated the city from the rest of the world. It towered above their heads, making even Kurogane look tiny. On the other side they could see a small collection of low buildings, in a far more rustic style than those of the city, and beyond that rolling green hills covered in tall grass, heathers and gorse which were being ruffled by the breeze. Large stones jutted out randomly or in clusters at the peaks of the low hills that surrounded them. The sky was a deep, clear blue and the sun highlighted the different colours of wildflowers within the swaying grasses. It was truly cruel, Fai thought, to place such beauty before someone and never allow them to experience it. The wall was too high to even feel the breeze, instead the air behind it was still and stifling.

Where the wall met the ground there was a small hut built against the wall. Kezia led them towards it and pressed her thumb to a panel beside the door and looked carefully into an eyepiece above the panel. There was a click and she pushed the door open with her other hand. She gestured them through and held the door open from them as they passed from what seemed like one world to another.


	3. A Wolf's Approval

Okay, here's chapter 3! The Dimension Wolf is entirely my own idea, I thought it would be quite fun to play around with. I realise it's a little slow burning, but I want to focus on character development and it's just so fun imagining what they would do when put in all these different situations!

Please review and let me know what you think so far :]

**Chapter 3: A Wolf's Approval**, in which our travellers meet a strange new companion, Kezia reveals another of her skills, and Fai and Mokona find a way to annoy Kurogane whilst clothes shopping!

* * *

Kezia

Kezia made sure the travellers were all within the hut before she closed the door plunging them into an eerie gloom, lit only by a small UV bulb. She squeezed past them and through the arch that had been roughly hewn out of the hard substance of the wall until she reached the other side. She scanned her thumb and iris and threw open the door, suddenly desperate to get outside. The gentle breeze blew in, ruffling her hair and bringing with it the fresh scents of wildflowers and grass and the salty tang of the sea. She stepped outside and took a deep breath, letting it ease away the evil memories that always clung to her when she went to the city. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the brightness and she held the door once more as her strange new companions filed past her.

Once she had checked the door was properly locked, she turned to look at them. They stood gazing out at the vista, their cloaks gently flapping around their ankles. She followed their gaze for a moment and smiled. This land was beautiful, but after the wastes of the city it seemed almost like heaven. She turned her eyes back to them. Their clothes were futuristic and looked hardwearing, but they were covered in dust and the hems of their cloaks were stained and starting to fray. They had obviously been travelling for a long time. She couldn't stop her eyes travelling over the features of the two older men. Both the blonde and the raven were really quite attractive… She pulled her mind away sharply from that dangerous line of thought and clenched her will. These people knew nothing about her past. If she was careful she could keep her shame a secret. And then…

The possibility of a normal friendship rose in her mind, of being able to know someone without the constant interference of the Mesa's lingering legacy, without having to work around the complications it raised. Of someone being able to see _her_, without looking around what they had _done_ to her. The opportunity was too good to miss. She would be strong. She would resist. And maybe, if she was careful, with them she might even be able to forget her past for a little while.

She was called out of this blissful contemplation by the youngest of the men, Syaoran, asking how far it was to Gaia.

"It's a few miles south-west of here," she told him, "You'll be able to see the sea from the top of that hill -" she pointed to an outcrop of rocks on the horizon "- the path then leads parallel to the coast for a while, and you'll see Gaia itself when we crest the next hill."

"So Gaia is the town where you live then?" asked the blonde, Fai.

"The town and the Palace."

"Palace?" Mokona asked from Syaoran's shoulder.

Kezia smiled whimsically. "It was one of the Mesa's 'research stations'. But they had cleared it out long before we got there and it's really quite an impressive building. The people decided that if the Saviour was to be our Queen, she should have a proper residence and seat of government. It's even quite luxurious now it's been refurbished."

"Ho! Kezia!"

They all turned around at the voice, and Kezia smiled at the soldier appearing from one of the nearby buildings.

"They told me we had visitors, Sis!" He was a young man, in his early twenties, with sandy coloured hair and an open, friendly face and was staring at the travellers quite unabashedly. His name was Torin and he was one of the most informal of the recruits to their military of sorts, and one of Kezia's favourites. "Where they come from?"

"We may never know," she replied, smiling enigmatically.

"Well if _you_ don't then the rest of us sure as hell ain't gonna," he grinned. "You're taking them to Gaia they said? They're to be your personal guests?"

"That's right." There was the faintest hint of sternness in her voice, warning against argument.

"You'll be wanting horses then I guess?"

She glanced at the three men. "Can you ride?"

"We've ridden before, yes," Fai assured her, although, she noted, he said nothing about their ability. She sensed no anxiety from them however so told the soldier to fetch them four horses.

Whilst they were waiting she grabbed her communicator, a touch screen device about the size of her palm, and started working out the technicalities of allowing these visitors to stay in Gaia, her fingers flying across the screen in a blur. If she was going to manage to keep what the Mesa had done to her a secret she was going to have to make sure that everyone else would too. She looked up to find Fai watching her curiously.

"Where did you get that from?" the blonde asked, "It doesn't look as though you've got any pockets in that outfit."

Kezia smiled mischievously. "I don't."

"Then where _did_ you get it from?" the big raven, Kurogane, asked, obviously not appreciating her evasive answer.

Kezia's eyes glinted, and her smile grew wider. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" she bantered, her tone faintly naughty.

This raised the eyebrows of the two men and brought a faint blush to the boy's cheeks. She laughed and slipped the communicator back into a pouch tied around her upper thigh under her skirt, but carefully so they wouldn't see where it had gone. Whether she had decided to resist or not, it was fun to tease them.

Torin brought four horses around from the stables behind the building, two chestnut coloured, one cream and one white. Kezia took the reins of the white one, which had saddlebags draped across its broad back, swung herself into the saddle and turned her mount to watch how the boys faired. Kurogane pulled himself easily onto the largest chestnut and both Fai and Syaoran seemed to manage without any difficulty, although she felt a stab of pain run through the blonde as he pulled himself up with his injured hand. She contemplated saying something, but no sign of it showed on his face so she kept quiet. Mokona surprised her by leaping from Syaoran's shoulder onto her own.

"There's water in the saddlebags," the sandy haired soldier told her, staring in amazement at the small white creature, who simply smiled brightly back. "Is there anything else you need?"

"That should be all. Call in to Gaia and tell them we've left will you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"We'll be off then. Live free, Torin."

"Live free, Big Sister."

She steered her mount towards the road and kicked her heels, setting off at a brisk trot. Behind her she heard the boys do the same. Once she was certain they could keep up, she guided the animal beneath her into a steady, mile eating canter.

* * *

Fai

The salty tang of the air flew past Fai, sweeping his hair from his face. They rode parallel to the sea, at one point the path dipping down to follow the line of a long, sandy beach before they rose up into the hills and cliffs again. They didn't talk, instead the gentle booming and crashing of the waves below and the cries of sea birds above accompanied their journey. This world had a rugged, untamed beauty which seemed to almost seep into the mage's soul, making him feel wild and free. It seemed almost impossible that something as ugly as the city they had arrived in could exist in such a world as this. But, as Fai reminded himself, fate was often cruel like that.

They slowed as they climbed the next hill, giving their mounts a chance to catch their breath and Kezia called them to a halt as they reached the summit.

"We'll stop here and rest the horses for a few minutes. We've made better time that I thought, you three really _can_ ride!"

Fai looked over as she pulled her horse to a stop. Her hair was streaming out behind her in the wind like a banner and it seemed to glow in the sunlight, almost looking like it had been lit aflame. She was smiling and her bright eyes looked almost green, although the wizard supposed they must be reflecting the colour of the grass around her. It was, he realised, the first time they had seen her look truly happy. She swung gracefully down from her saddle and lead her horse over to the large outcrop of rocks that seemed to be a regular feature at the peaks of the hills around them, then scampered up the rocks, finding a seat about half way up and looking out to sea.

"Aren't you worried the horse will wonder off?" Kurogane asked, swinging down from his own saddle and leading his mount to join the other. "You haven't tied him you know."

"He won't," she replied confidently, "And the others won't either, so you can just leave them."

Kurogane looked uncertain, but did as she said. His horse turned to stare at him for a moment, then walked a little ways away and started to chew the grass. Kezia chuckled.

"Hey! What's so funny?" the ninja asked, annoyed, but she only smiled and continued staring out to sea causing the big man to mutter under his breath.

Fai and Syaoran followed suit, dismounting their horses and allowing them to wonder and graze. Fai's hand gave another throb as he did so. The cut must've been deeper than he thought.

"That's enough Fai-san." He looked up to see that Kezia had somehow clambered back down the rocks far enough than she could crouch with her head level to his.

"Enough of what?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

"You hand. It's hurting you, let me see it."

The magician stared at her. He had been sure that his mask hadn't slipped since he'd met her, it took a lot more pain than this to break through his defences.

"How did you-?" he began to ask, but the redhead had already reached down to grab his wrist.

"I think the cut's quite deep. You should've let me look at this," she said, gently holding his palm in her fingertips.

"You haven't even taken the bandages off yet," he pointed out, but she ignored him, instructing him to sit on one of the lower rocks.

He did as he was told, figuring it was better not to argue. His companions watched curiously and Mokona hopped onto his lap to get a better look. She settled on the rock next to him and began delicately working lose the knot that held his bandage together.

"What exactly are you going to do?" he asked, not seeing anything that she could possibly use to treat the cut, but once again she ignored him, now slowly unwrapping the cloth. After a few layers it started to turn red and when she'd removed it completely Fai was surprised at the amount of blood there. She very carefully placed two fingers over the gash and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Good, the wound's clean," she murmured, taking Fai's hand gently between the two of hers. She softly sang a few clear, pure notes and her eyes seemed to glow for a moment. There was a strange prickling sensation across his palm. She took her hand away, now stained with his blood, and inspected the wound.

"Syaoran-san, could you get me some water from the saddlebags please? There should be another bandage in there too."

Syaoran did as he was told and she unwound the new bandage, soaking one end of it with the water-skin. She gently wiped the blood from his hand and looked at it critically. Fai was surprised that he didn't feel any pain at all.

"There, good as new," she proclaimed, letting Fai have his hand back and setting about to wash her own.

The blonde looked at it curiously. The cut had disappeared. There wasn't the slightest sign that it had even been there in the first place. Kurogane, who had been peering over his shoulder whistled and Mokona cried out in admiration.

"That's… pretty amazing," Fai admitted. Healing had been the one form of magic he had never been able to master. He looked up to her and was caught in her intense gaze. There was a gentle, almost sad smile on her face. He had the feeling she was staring right into him.

"Thank you very much, Kezia-san!" he sang, pulling his mouth into a wide grin. It wasn't exactly _fake_, after all he was grateful to her, but he didn't like the way she seemed to be able to see past his defences so easily.

She wrinkled her nose. "Too formal," she said before climbing up to her perch amongst the rocks, leaving the three men staring after her.

"Strange girl," Kurogane muttered, and Fai couldn't help but agree. There was something about her that nagged at him, making him think there was more to her than she was letting on. She didn't make herself seem any more normal when she suddenly began talking to thin air.

"When you said something important was going to happen today, Emrys, I didn't realise it would be quite _this_ unusual." She looked down at them and giggled. Evidently their surprise showed on their faces as she continued, "I think you'd better show yourself around about now, they already think I'm weird enough."

She chuckled again and turned to watch their faces as standing on the rock below her there suddenly appeared a wolf. His thick fur was every shade of grey one could imagine and he had striking yellow eyes.

"Fuck!" swore Kurogane, as all three of them jumped slightly, "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you, at least, not as long as you don't threaten me. And he's a 'he', Kurogane-san, not a 'that', wolves have an exquisite sense of propriety and manners. Being called 'that' isn't particularly polite."

Kezia stood up and she and the wolf descended from the pile of stones with identical grace. The wolf leapt to the ground whilst she perched on the lower rocks and watched them with interest.

"Won't he scare the horses?" Syaoran asked, curiously.

"They're used to him, and he doesn't smell like a wolf, so they don't mind anyway." Her tone became more formal. "Might I introduce Emrys, my loyal companion and protector. He's a Dimension Wolf, hence his abnormalities."

"A Dimension Wolf?" Mokona asked from her place on the rocks, "Yuko told me about them! They're supposed to be the embodiment of hitsuzen. She says they're incredibly rare, and each one is bound to a particular person."

"No one really understands the Dimension Wolves but the Dimension Wolves themselves. Emrys came to me just before my parents died seven years ago. He told me there were things I was fated to do and that I'd be incapable of doing them without his help. He's been with me ever since, although he could only ever use his spirit form during the Mesa occupation. In his spirit form he's invisible to all but his pack, his hitsuzen one, and those who already possess the ability to see spirits. And other Dimension Wolves of course, but as Mokona says, they're incredibly rare. That's why you couldn't see him when he first arrived." She looked at him and smiled warmly. "I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have him with me, especially during the uprising."

Her smile faded and her voice trailed off and Fai could hear the pain in it. He had a sudden urge to try and comfort her. Emrys, meanwhile, had padded up to the rock where Mokona stood and was sniffing inquisitively at her. Mokona in return tilted her head to one side as if she was trying to catch something she couldn't quite hear.

"He says that he's pleased to meet you, Mokona, after having known about you for so long," Kezia supplied before chuckling. "Although he didn't realise you'd look so much like a rabbit."

"You can understand what he's saying?" Kurogane asked.

"It would make things a little difficult if I couldn't."

"Mokona can understand Emrys too! Well, just about," the white creature called, surprising everyone except Kezia. She and the wolf were nose to nose, staring intently at each other. At least that's how it appeared, seeing as Mokona's eyes remained closed as usual.

"You're both magical creatures, born of the very fabric of the dimensions themselves. It makes sense that you'd be able to communicate on some level," Kezia theorised. Emrys turned away from Mokona and turned his intense yellow eyes to Fai.

"He wants to gather your scents. It's probably be easiest if you stood still."

The wolf came to each of them in turn, looking into their eyes and probing the air around them with his nose. Fai got the impression that more than just his smell was being inspected. Then he loped back to Kezia's side and sat on his haunches, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

"He welcomes you all, but warns you that if you ever hurt me he will rip your throat out and feast on your carcass." It was rather strange to hear such a violent phrase said in such a calm and cheerful manner. Next to her Emrys seemed to be grinning, showing as many sharp teeth as possible, but somehow managing to maintain a sense of impish affability.

Kurogane's eyes narrowed, he was obviously mentally assessing the wolf to see if he would be able to carry out his threat.

"Don't doubt that he could, Kurogane-san," Kezia warned, "He's more than just a wolf remember."

The ninja grunted, obviously not happy about the idea of losing a fight, no matter whom to.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Kezia asked brightly, "Gaia's at the bottom of this valley, you can see it from the other side of these rocks."

They remounted their horses (Kezia managing to catch them again surprisingly easily) and set off again around the mound of stones, Mokona once again riding with the redhead and Emrys trotting alongside them. Nestled in the valley below them was a small port town. Its streets formed a strange pattern of circles and spirals radiating out from two large paved courtyards, one roughly in the middle of town, the other surrounding the piers and docks that jutted out to split the sandy shoreline in two. The houses themselves were fairly small, single storey and built out of rough stone with slate roofs, but the roads, gardens and pathways between them were all open and spacious. Gaia had obviously be designed to be the exact opposite of the cramped, claustrophobic city they had been forced to live in before. Beyond the town, on the far side of the valley a shining dome of the same material as the giant wall protruded from the cliffs, inside of which Fai could just make out a large amount of greenery.

The path they were following snaked down the hill, which was dotted here and there by sheep. Before they could enter the town proper, Kezia pulled up at a large building by a fenced off field and dismounted.

"This is the town stables," she told them, dismounting, "We'll walk from here."

She handed her horses reins to a man who mad just walked out of the low building, and gestured for them to do the same. The man kept glancing looks at them as Kezia talked to him, explaining the situation, particularly at Mokona, who now sat on her head. He paid no attention to Emrys however, who was obviously a regular sight here.

"I have the feeling we're going to be getting that a lot," Syaoran muttered as the stable hand stole yet another glance at them. "This country doesn't seem to get a lot of visitors."

Indeed, as they walked through the streets many people stopped and watched them, although it was possible that this was considered polite as most of them also seemed to pay as much attention to Kezia as she walked past, or call out to her. Curiously, every one of them seemed to call her 'Big Sister'.

"She can't have that many siblings," Kurogane muttered under his breath as a young girl came up to Kezia and shyly offered her a freshly picked bunch of wildflowers. She thanked the golden haired child and reached up to weave the flowers into her plaits, making the child beam with pride. Seeing the way the people treated her, and considering the way she had behaved at the perimeter, Fai was beginning to suspect that there was something their host wasn't telling them.

"I need to stop off at the tailor's, if you don't mind," Kezia called as they reached the wide, circular courtyard they had seen from the hill, "I'll buy you some new clothes too, yours are in desperate need of a wash."

They entered a shop on the far side of the circle with blots of cloth in varying colours displayed in the window. Kezia ran straight to the owner, a tall, slender woman with olive skin and short brown hair, and embraced her.

"I need to talk to Cara for a moment, have a look around and pick out anything you like."

With that the two women disappeared into a back room, leaving the three men standing among the racks of clothes. Mokona bounded towards them with a gleeful cry and started hopping around the shelves stands, inspecting their occupants.

"Hey, Fai!" she called out, "Don't you think this would look good on Kuro-tan?"

Fai went over and picked out the rather frilly, faintly pink shirt the white creature was referring to.

"It's perfect!" he cried out, smiling from ear to ear, "It's just Kuro-pon's colour, don't you think?"

Things went downhill from there and the two women returned to find Kurogane chasing the mage and the white creature around the shop, shouting profanities.

"Waaa! Kuro-chii's trying to kill me!" Fai exclaimed, diving behind Kezia and grinning at the ninja over her shoulder.

"I'm guessing the clothes shopping didn't go particularly well then?" the redhead asked, one of her eyebrows raised. "Perhaps you can just pick something out for them, Cara? You can send it over later."

She cast her eyes professionally over Kurogane, sizing him up with Cara following her gaze. "You'll want something black I think, close fitting, but something that won't restrict your movement."

She turned to Syaoran. "Again, something easy to move in, olive or khaki wouldn't you say?"

She span around to face Fai, her eyes wondering across his body almost hungrily and making him feel suddenly a little self-conscious. She reached up and took hold of his chin, angling his face so she could look into his eyes.

"Blue, to highlight those pretty eyes." She released him and stood back, looking over him once more. "And something slim-fitting, seeing as he's so slim himself."

"I'll have them to you by dinner, Big Sis," Cara agreed.

"Mokona wants something too!" the white creature chimed, leaping into the redhead's arms.

"I'll see what I can do," Cara promised.

Kezia smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow for a fitting then. Live free, Cara."

They left the shop and continued through the town, turning right when they got to the docks and continuing along the beach and towards the great dome in the cliffs.

"Where are we going?" Syaoran asked.

"To the Palace." Fai's suspicions grew even further.

About halfway along the path they were met by a tall man with dark hair than hung playfully around his shoulders. As they stopped he bowed extravagantly, making Kezia roll her eyes.

"You took longer than expected, my Lady," he announced, his voice warm and his dark eyes playful. Kezia wrinkled her nose.

"My Lady?" Kurogane asked, confused, but Fai thought he knew what was coming.

"Ianto, how many times have I asked you _not_ to call me that," she said, her tone irritated, "I have a name you know."

Ianto grinned. "As you wish, Kezia, Queen of Gaia."

* * *

Pronunciation guide:

Emrys - Em-ris

Ianto - Yan-to


	4. The Colour of Her Eyes

Thank you for my reviews! It means so much to me to know that people are reading and enjoying this!

Chapter 4 has been an annoying one to write, as there's a lot of important stuff that needed fitting in, but not much actually happens. I think it's turned out okay though, let me know :]

**Chapter 4: The Colour of Her Eyes**, in which Kezia reveals how much she trusts her new guests, Kurogane is challenged to a sword fight and Fai sees a little more than he bargained for!

* * *

Kezia

Kezia groaned. Well that let _that_ cat out of the bag. Not that she had any idea how she could've told them in any more graceful way. It was going to become pretty obvious soon after all. But it wasn't that that irritated her. She _hated_ all these bloody formalities!

"Wait, what?" Kurogane asked, clearly surprised.

"I take it her Highness hadn't got around to explaining that bit yet then?"

"Ianto. Call me by name or call me nothing at all."

There was steel in her voice and most men would have cowered at her tone. Ianto only smiled at her. She knew he'd call her by name now though, and her annoyance quickly dissipated. It was a game they played but he wasn't so stupid as to push her _too_ far, especially when her eyes were as grey as she knew they must be.

"I thought you said this Saviour person became Queen?" Kurogane asked, obviously not getting it yet.

"She did," Kezia informed him calmly, watching him carefully to see when it would click, somewhat amused.

"You mean – _You're_ the Saviour?"

"Hello!" she said, smiling at his incredulous tone.

"I thought you said she was a Goddess or something?"

She sighed. Maybe she shouldn't've put that bit in. "I said the people _thought_ she was a Goddess. And you have _no_ idea how long it took me to get rid of that absurd idea!"

"Now, now, be nice. You are rather special after all, Big Sister," Ianto chided her playfully.

She rolled her eyes again. Like she needed reminding how unusual she was. The redhead glanced round at her other guests to see how they were taking the news. Syaoran looked slightly surprised, but as though this explained certain things he had been wondering about. Mokona just looked delighted. Fai however had a smile on his face similar to Ianto's.

"I take it you'd figured it out then?" she asked the grinning blonde.

"I had my suspicions," he replied modestly, "May I ask why everyone calls you 'Big Sister'?"

She felt a whimsical smile slide onto her face. "You may have noticed that I don't particularly like formal modes of address."

"I did get that impression, yes."

"Everyone insisted that they had to call me _something_, me being their Queen and all, so Emrys came up with the suggestion of 'Big Sister'. It's still a title, but I much prefer the idea of being a sister to my people than a Queen," she explained, "I was against being any sort of leader at all, but everyone saw me as a hero after the uprising so I guess it was kind of inevitable. And it seems to make them happy so I don't mind too much. Ianto's my right hand man though. He and Catelyn do most of the work actually running the country. I'm more of a figurehead."

"Awh, you're far too modest, Kez," Ianto smiled.

Kezia smiled back at him, glad that he'd finally lapsed into informal speech. "If you say so. Anyway there's not much point just standing around here. Shall we get going?"

"Of course, Kezia-sama," Fai said, bowing extravagantly.

"Not you too! Please!" she begged.

"Okay, what works best then?" he agreed as they set off again, "Kezi-chan, Kezi-chi, Kezi-pon?"

The redhead laughed. "I don't mind, they're all just as ridiculous as each other!"

"You're really going to let him call you such stupid names?" Kurogane asked sceptically.

"Anything's better than all those bloody titles! I'm guessing you're not a fan of the nicknames he gives you then, Kuro-pii?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" The raven looked as though he was about to explode.

Kezia laughed.

"I was only teasing, Kurogane-san," she said, pulling her face into a sweet, innocent smile.

Kurogane stomped off, muttering under his breath. Mokona cheered and whooped and she saw Fai and Ianto wearing matching grins beside her. Only Syaoran seemed to have a relatively straight face, and even he looked slightly amused. Poor Kurogane, she thought, so serious and surrounded by practical jokers. She gave Mokona to Syaoran and sped up so she was walking next to him, deciding it was best not to annoy any of her guests _too_ thoroughly before they'd even got to the palace.

"What d'you want?" he grunted as she caught up.

"I was just wondering how good you are with your sword," the redhead asked.

The raven looked sceptical, probably due to the fact that she'd not actually seen him with one.

"How d'you know I carry a sword?" he asked.

"It's obvious. The way you move, the way you hold yourself, the way you walk. No one can wield a sword for any length of time without it leaving a mark on them." She looked him over critically. "You favour a long-sword, right?"

"Yeah," he admitted, looking mildly impressed.

"Well? Are you any good? I can tell you're competent, and you're definitely experienced, but that doesn't mean you're actually _good_."

He stared at her, obviously trying to decided whether to take her seriously or not.

"Yeah," he grunted finally, "I'm good."

Excellent. She hadn't had a decent swordfight in years.

"Would you agree to train with me, tomorrow perhaps?" she asked. He looked a little surprised so she continued, "There's no one left in this land who can match me in a fight. And it's impossible to improve if there's no challenge in facing any of your opponents."

He looked at her again, his eyes narrow, assessing her.

"You sure you're up for it?" he questioned.

She smirked. "I am if you are."

His eyes considered her for a moment longer. "Fine," he muttered, looking ahead again.

Kezia grinned. Kurogane obviously held his skills in high regard. This looked like it could be an interesting fight. It had been far too long since she'd been able to push herself.

By this point they were next to the great, transparent dome, bulging out of the cliff face as though a giant bubble had landed there. There was a small, automatic door at the bottom, with a print-scanner next to it. She pressed her thumb to the pad and the doors slid open allowing the travellers though. Ianto also scanned his thumb before he entered and the doors slid silently closed behind them.

The inside of the dome was incredibly warm, the sun's rays intensified by the glass-like substance it was made of, although a gentle breeze was channelled in to keep the room comfortable. The floor was mostly carpeted in moss, with giant stone slabs forming stepping-stone like pathways around the room. Massive tropical trees which could only grow inside the dome stood tall and proud around them and the room was full of the colours and scents of the many bright flowers. Kezia ignored the stones as she led the way through the jungle-like room to a desk by the cliffs that formed the wall. She liked the feel of the moss under her bare feet.

"Good afternoon, Big Sister," the woman at the desk greeted her.

"Afternoon, Elsa."

"So these are your famous guests then?" the honey haired secretary asked.

"They are indeed. Did you get my message from the wall?"

"I did, and the Fluorite suite has been prepared as you asked."

"Fluorite suite?"

Kezia turned around at the question from behind her. "Yes, all the rooms in the Palace are named after gemstones. The Fluorite suite is one of the bigger guest accommodations we have. Why?"

"It's my name," Fai said, putting his hands behind his head in an almost sheepish manner and smiling again, "My full name at least: Fai D. Fluorite."

Kezia looked at him and then down to Emrys at her side. "How appropriate," she said, raising one eyebrow slightly.

_I would say it was a coincidence, but I don't think it was, was it Emrys?_ she said in the manner of the wolves to her canine friend. He was the one who had suggested the name Fluorite for that particular suite. He just grinned up at her, obviously unrepentant for subtly arranging her life again. But then, she thought, that is what he's here for I guess.

She turned back to Elsa, who was already logging them in to the building and preparing their security settings.

"You'll need to come here and be registered," she called to them.

"Registered?" asked Fai as he reached the desk, tilting his head.

"Every member of the country is registered here, it's like a census and helps us keep track of who's where," Kezia explained, "All the doors in the Palace, even the front one are security protected. You need to scan your thumb to be able to open them. It's the same in government buildings all over the country, and at the city too. There are several levels of security status which dictate which doors will open to you. The only reason you were able to get into the Palace, or even out of the city was because I was with you and I have the highest security status, allowing me to bend, or even break the rules if I want. Being Queen has some advantages." She smiled. "But if you want to stay here you're going to have to be registered yourself, I can't be here to play doorman for you all the time."

"It's a simple process," Elsa explained from behind the desk, "I just need a few personal details and then you scan your thumb and the print will be logged in our database. From then on everything is done automatically."

"I think you only need ask their names though, Elsa. Figuring out their date of births might be tricky. I've already told you the rest."

Elsa agreed and Fai supplied his name with great aplomb. The others did so with slightly less enthusiasm, although that wasn't particularly difficult considering the blonde's general demeanour. A few questions were raised over Mokona, her not having any thumbs to scan, but it was generally agreed that she would only ever travel with other people anyway, so it didn't really matter.

"So just place your thumb here for a moment," Elsa told Fai, passing him a small pad, "And now your other one, that way you don't have to remember which hand you used. I'll assign your security code and then you're done. What shall I put them as?" she asked Kezia.

The redhead thought for a moment, her eyes slowly passing over their faces. She considered what she had learnt from them, from their souls and emotions and behaviour. How far would she trust these strangers? She glanced down at Emrys, who as ever knew exactly what she was thinking, and confirmed that her gut reaction was the right thing to do.

"Level A," she supplied, receiving a shocked look from both Elsa and Ianto.

"I'm guessing that's unusual," Kurogane said.

"Level A is the highest you can get," Ianto explained.

"Except from me of course," Kezia interrupted with a smile, "But then I don't really have a level, I'm more the exception that proves the rule. Level A allows you entry through any door except the ones to any occupied guest suites," she explained, "You'll be able to go anywhere you want, including my own rooms, although my bedroom and bathroom are still of limits. There are only a handful of people with Level A status, and they're all the heads of government in each respective town."

"Why are you giving it to us then?" Kurogane asked suspiciously.

"Because, for some reason, I believe it's the right thing to do," she explained quietly, "And Emrys agrees with me, so it must be alright," she added in a more confident tone.

Ianto looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Elsa informed them that she'd also need to take their retina scans for such a high level of access. Kezia wondered off to the side as she explained what retina scans were to the travellers, who had evidently not come across such things before. The redhead slowly ran her hand down one of the flowering vines creeping across the rocky face of the cliffs.

"Not that I'm questioning your judgement, Kez," Ianto said, coming up behind her, "But are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Kezia smiled at the contradiction in his statement and nodded.

"Things are about to change, Ianto. I can feel it." Her voice was distant.

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" he asked.

"I don't know. Let's hope it's the former," she said with a small smile.

* * *

Fai

Fai lounged comfortably on the large sofa in their suite. Kezia had given them a brief tour of the Palace, showing them the rooms they were most likely to use (the library, communal baths and the room in which they'd be dining) and explaining where the others were. Other than the giant domed entrance, the entire Palace was built into the cliffs and often the corridors were little more that tunnels carved in the rock. The rooms, however, were more luxurious and the mage had noticed a certain note of pride in the reluctant Queen's voice as she described how she and her people had gone about designing and adapting them for their particular purposes. When she had shown them their own rooms she had looked almost nervous, as though she was anxious to ensure they were pleased.

The Fluorite suite consisted of three double bedrooms, each with its own en suite and a large, open plan living space in which the mage now sat, with a small kitchen area to one side. One wall of this room had been carved out of the rock to form a large hole in the cliff face, which had been filled with a window and balcony of the strong, glass-like substance that seemed to be everywhere in this world. The view from it was rather impressive. They were about half way up, on the side of the cliffs that overlooked the bay where the town of Gaia sat. Below them was the constant booming and crashing of the waves, occasionally spray reaching them from the bigger ones.

After Kezia was sure they had everything they needed she had left on her own business. Fai had made the group a quick lunch after which Syaoran headed off to explore the library, taking Mokona with him. It wasn't long before the ninja had declared he needed a bath and disappeared into his rooms, mostly the wizard suspected, to evade his teasing and nicknames.

Fai was bored. There was no one around to distract him and his thoughts were drifting dangerously close to what might be considered profound contemplation of his life. After the rather traumatic events of their journey in search of Princess Sakura's feathers and the resulting confrontation of the man who had so neatly manipulated his entire existence, Fai was not particularly keen to look too closely at the person he had become. He wasn't sure yet whether he would like what he saw. Before his life had always followed a set of rules, even if they were rules that hadn't made him particularly happy. Now however he wasn't controlled by any guiding principles, whether good or bad, and had the freedom to do whatever he chose. That idea scared him more than a little. So far he had coped with this by desperately clinging to the role he had carved for himself when their journey first began. This strategy however, had a tendency to fall apart on him whenever he was left alone.

He sighed. He needed someone to talk to before he could be accused of actually being serious. Then he remembered Kezia saying how their security level allowed them access to her personal rooms. He smiled. There was something about their copper-haired host that intrigued him. He knew she was hiding something from them and there seemed to be a steady pull emanating from her that made him particularly interested in finding out more. Attempting to satisfy his curiosity would be the perfect distraction.

He set off, trying to remember the route she had explained. Their new clothes had arrived and after sorting through his own pile he had picked out a long, deep blue trench coat which he particularly liked. It was tailored so it fit him closely around his torso, yet flared out around his legs and at the end of the sleeves. It was full of different pockets in varying sizes and shapes and finished with an intricate pattern embroidered in silver thread. Beneath that he had changed into a pair of grey skinny jeans which had been artfully distressed and a slim-fitting, pale blue t-shirt. A collection of chains and thin leather belts jangled loosely around his hips as he walked. Although the interior of the Palace was somewhat akin to a maze in its construction, he managed to find his way remarkably quickly. The door to the Queen's rooms was indistinguishable from any other, except for the fact that carved in the stone wall next to it in intricate letters was the word 'Labradorite', which was apparently her favourite gemstone. He put his thumb to the scanner beside it and the door clicked open.

The room beyond stretched out long and thin before him. To his right the stone continued up the wall and had been carved into two balconies from which there were doors to other rooms. An elegant glass spiral staircase grew next to the stone in the middle of the room to link the three floors. The wall at the opposite end of the room was formed by a massive window, reaching the full triple height of the room, making it feel light and airy. Doors were carved into the bottom of it and currently stood open to the balcony which looked over a beautiful vista of the sea and cliffs continuing into the distance. Kezia's room faced the opposite direction to the town, so the view was wild and untouched by human hands. The floor was panelled in a light-coloured wood and the remaining wall was covered in many paintings from which the art spilled from the canvas and onto the wall itself, interlinking with one another and making the entire wall a massive piece of art.

There were a multitude of various sofas, armchairs, beanbags and large cushions clustered around a large circular coffee table in the half of the room nearest the window. The styles were eclectic and mismatched and even included what looked like a large, teardrop shaped wicker basket suspended on a long chain from the ceiling above. Fai noticed Emrys curled up on one of the cushions. The nearer part of the room was occupied by a long glass table, down the centre of which sat a collection of greyish stones of different sizes which shimmered blue and gold as they caught the light. Along the stone wall an alcove had been cut beneath the first balcony which housed a gleaming, modern kitchen.

Fai closed the door behind him and began to examine the great mural which was the wall to his left. The paintings varied in style and subject from abstract blocks of colour to detailed landscapes of the coastline and sea. The patterns linking them were intricate, ornate and incredibly beautiful.

"Fai-san!"

The magician spun around to see Kezia descending the spiral staircase, looking rather surprised to see him. She was wearing a baggy pair of shorts and, his face coloured slightly as he realised it, no top. Her chest was bound by a long strip of deep purple cloth. Such a thing might, on flatter-chested women, have the effect of hiding their assets, however on her it merely enhanced them, giving her what he could only describe as rather impressive cleavage.

"I thought I'd stop by for a chat, Kezi-chan," he said smiling, "I didn't realise you wouldn't be dressed though!"

She laughed warmly as she jumped over the railings, skipping the last few steps and came towards him.

"Don't worry, there are many around here who have seen me in far less than this. Although I can go put a robe on if it would make you more comfortable?" she added, noticing that he was deliberately trying not to look at her chest.

"Well as long as you're okay with it, I wouldn't want you to think I was being pervy."

She just shrugged. "Everything's covered that needs to be isn't it? After all I have to do _something_ with them, it's incredibly awkward trying to run with a chest like mine you know and a corset's just impossible to move properly in."

"I can't say I have much experience in that matter."

She laughed again. "You wouldn't, you skinny little thing," she teased, looking over him. Then she paused, suddenly looking apprehensive. "Am I being a little too… open? I don't suppose women are usually this outspoken about their bodies are they? I didn't have what you would call a normal social upbringing, so I'm a bit vague on things like that. Everyone here's just used to me by now."

Fai shrugged, smiling now he had got over the initial shock. "No problem!" he sang.

She smiled back at him, and went back to pulling a brush through her long hair, which was slightly damp.

"I've only just got out of the shower, hence my current state of dress," she explained, curling up in one of her many armchairs and gesturing for him to take a seat. "I see Cara sent your new clothes up. I love your coat!"

"Thanks!" Fai cried, giving her a twirl before throwing himself spread-eagled onto one of the sofas. "Cara-san's really skilled isn't she?"

"She's the best," Kezia agreed, "I'm hopeless at sewing so I give all my designs to Cara and she makes them up for me."

"So she's tailor to the Queen? You're really spoiling us Kezi-chan!"

Kezia smiled and the wizard was about to launch into a ramble of mindless chatter when he noticed something rather odd about his redheaded host.

"Kezia-chan, your eyes…?"

"What about them?" She turned to look at him and it was obvious that they were now turquoise.

"They've changed colour."

She didn't look particularly surprised. "What colour are they now?"

"Sort of a bluey-green. Before they were grey, and when I first met you I was sure they were red, like Kuro-pu's."

"That makes sense, it's always hard for me to tell on my own," she said, smiling. He tilted his head to one side, looking confused so she explained, "My eyes change colour according to my emotions. It's one of my little abnormalities."

"Wow, Kezi-chan, that's really cool!" he whooped. "What do the different colours mean?"

"The blues are normally when I'm interested in something, greens are when I'm happy. Reds are when I'm angry and grey is when I'm… concentrating. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the colour. They go pale, almost white when I'm scared or shocked, and very dark, almost black when I'm sad."

"So now you're fairly happy and quite interested?" Fai pondered, putting his finger to his chin in thought. "And when you first met me you were angry. That makes sense - you were pretty scary then Kezi-chan! Doesn't it get a bit annoying though, having people able to tell how you're feeling just by looking at your eyes?"

She laughed again, although this time the mage noticed a slight edge to it.

"That's not really something I have to worry about," she said, putting the brush down on the arm of the chair. "Besides, I trust everyone here not to take advantage of me by knowing my emotions."

They were quiet for a moment as Fai considered this, watching as her eye colour shifted slightly more to the blue and then became greener again as she noticed him staring and smiled. It was really quite entrancing watching the colours shift with the changes in her mood. They chatted for a little while about nothing in particular and Emrys trotted over to place his chin on the redhead's lap. Fai found himself unable to keep his eyes from the swirling depths of hers.

"You know, you're staring at me rather a lot, Fai-san," she accused him.

"Haha, sorry!" he apologised, "I've just never met someone with eyes that change like yours Kezi-chan! They're really pretty! And if I'm allowed to call your Majesty cute nicknames," he added, smiling as she wrinkled her nose at the title again, "then you should at least call me Fai–kun rather than Fai-san!"

A large smile spread across her face and she looked far happier than the wizard expected by his permission to address him in a more informal way, but before he could question her about it, the door opened and a woman with thick, curly brown hair entered. Kezia jumped up, ran with astonishing speed over to her and gave the woman a hug.

"I've sorted out the accommodation arrangements, Kez. Siobhan and Rhys are happy to stay with me so it wasn't too complicated," she said, hugging her Queen back before noticing Fai. "Oh I didn't realise you had guests! This is one of the mysterious travellers then?"

"Indeed he is. Catelyn, this is Fai D. Fluorite," Kezia introduced grandly, "And Fai-kun, this is Catelyn, my second in command. Without her everything – and everyone – would fall apart at the seams."

The brunette laughed, holding her hand out to shake. "You give me far too much credit, Kez!"

Fai stood up and, grinning, took Catelyn's hand in his own, bringing it to his lips and bowing extravagantly.

"My, he's a charmer isn't he?" she laughed, with a strange sideways look at Kezia. "I'm very pleased to meet you Fai." She curtsied slightly in return. She was the sort of woman who gave off an air of warmth and friendliness. Fai was reminded somewhat of an older, more confident Sakura.

"It's only an hour till dinner, Kez, you'd better get dressed."

"In which case I shall leave you ladies alone," Fai announced. He was grateful, if not a little surprised that Catelyn had said nothing about finding him alone chatting to her Queen whilst she was in nothing but her undergarments. Although he wasn't above a bit of playful flirting, he didn't want to be seen as trying to inappropriately seduce the young monarch. For some reason people always seemed to expect the worst from him in that regard.

* * *

Author's notes:

Catelyn - Kate-lin (just a prettier/more unusual spelling of the normal name)

Siobhan - Shiv-on (a stupid spelling but a cool name)

Rhys - the traditional way to spell Reece

Labradorite is a real stone (as is Fluorite), and indeed is my personal favourite gemstone. The stones decorating Kezia's dining table are Labradorites.

In the next chapter Fai is going to get drunk and spend most of his time meowing, so Kuro-pu shall take over the narration!


	5. She's Definitely Hiding Something

This one almost seemed to write itself once I'd got started, so I'm uploading it pretty quick :] Enjoy!

**Chapter 5: She's Definitely Hiding Something**, in which the gang get thoroughly pissed, giving Kurogane a chance to give their host a grilling, only she seems to raise more questions than she answers.

* * *

Kurogane

The room Kezia led them to was fairly small with a large desk at one end and a bizarre collection of soft furnishings at the other. The walls were covered in a light-coloured wood panelling and there was another of the window walls with a balcony beyond.

"So this is where you keep the booze then?" Kurogane grunted, still annoyed that he hadn't been allowed to drink at dinner.

Kezia claimed that because the Palace was more of a place of work than a home that it wasn't particularly appropriate to allow people to drink there, stating that people don't work particularly well with a hangover. Whilst he could accept that this was true, he knew that the Queen hadn't told them the real reason.

"Seeing as I'm the one who made the rule, it makes sense for me to be the one who's allowed to break it!" she answered cheerfully.

Kurogane didn't quite see the sense in that but decided not to argue, as long as it got him a drink. He sunk into one of the armchairs that looked least likely to swallow him whole (there being a stupid amount of cushions) and peered around. This room was apparently Kezia's personal study. Strangely the wolf had slinked off back to her rooms. The redhead had explained that he didn't like the smell of alcohol. The ninja watched as she went to a cupboard at the back of the room, opening it with her thumb-print and retrieved several bottles of liquor which she set on the desk next to the glasses they'd bought from the dining hall. She filled four of them with the alcohol and the fifth from a bottle she'd grabbed from under her desk.

The manju bun and the wizard both squealed excitedly as she handed round the glasses and made a toast ("Kanpai!~"), before downing them in one and calling for more. Kezia laughed and put the bottle on the small table in front of them, telling them to help themselves, which they did with great enthusiasm. The ninja rolled his eyes and downed his own glass. He chose to refill it from one of the bottles still on the desk, rather than risk a confrontation with the two troublemakers. Whilst he was there curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check out the bottle that Kezia had poured her own drink from. He gave it an experimental sniff and was interested to find that it wasn't alcoholic. He decided not to comment. It was her own business if she didn't want to drink, but the manju bun wouldn't see it that way.

"It's really interesting, feeling people's emotions as they get drunk!" she exclaimed as he got back to his chair with his bottle.

"What d'you mean, 'feeling people's emotions'?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Oh! I guess I haven't told you about that yet, have I?"

The ninja narrowed his eyes in annoyance as the other three asked what she meant in unison. He was sure there were a lot of things she hadn't told them about yet. Her eyes had quickly turned grey at the question. The mage had told the others about the redhead's strange eyes and how they changed with her emotions. He'd said that grey meant she was concentrating, but Kurogane felt there was something more to it than that.

"Hmm… where to start, I've never had to explain this before," she pondered, "You see the Mesa were scientists, and they particularly liked messing about with genetics - specifically _our_ genetics. Several generations ago they found out how to make us empathic and decided it would be interesting to see what would happen to society if people could tell what their peers were feeling. They altered each new pregnancy so that the child would have this 'empathy gene' and within a generation they had what they wanted. The trait bred true and the people of this country have been empathic ever since."

"So that's what you meant when you said you weren't bothered about your eyes!" the mage exclaimed, smacking his fist against his palm, "Everyone can tell what you're feeling anyway!"

"Wait, does that mean you can tell what _we're_ feeling?" the ninja asked, annoyed.

Kezia suddenly looked unhappy. "Yes, I can," she admitted, her voice small.

"Why didn't you tell us that before?"

She smiled sadly. "You all thought I was strange enough as it was. I didn't want to spring too many surprises on you at once."

"Humph," the ninja grunted, sinking back into the too-soft chair. He wanted to be angry at her for keeping such vital information from him, but somehow she looked so vulnerable right now he couldn't bring himself to be. Travelling with these idiots had made him soft. He took a large swig from his glass and crossed his arms, deliberately looking the other way.

"Hey! Don't worry, Kezi-chan!" the manju bun called, hopping over and giving her head a hug. "Mokona can sense what other people are feeling too and Kuro-Daddy doesn't hate Mokona! Kuro-Daddy is just grumpy!"

Kurogane chose to ignore that statement and after much cajoling and a terrible song from the meat bun ("~Swinging, swinging, like I'm a ballooooon!~"), she had cheered up. When he next looked round her eyes were a pale green again.

As the evening went on the kid, magician and manju bun got steadily louder and rowdier, singing, attempting to tell scary stories and giggling a great deal. Kurogane did his best to block them out, more interested in watching their host who seemed to be doing her best to act as drunk as they were. She laughed a lot at their actions, and particularly at their singing (which was awful) and quite happily joined in as Fai and Mokona joined hands and started dancing in circles around the room, knocking into the furniture as they went. Her eyes however slowly turned from green to grey as the evening went on.

After a couple of hours of steady drinking on their part, Kezia got up and let herself out onto the balcony. Syaoran was passed out on the sofa and the mage and the manju were conducting a long and seemingly complex conversation in meows. Kurogane got up and followed her, having had more than enough of drunks for one evening.

The night air was cool and refreshing. A steady breeze blew in from the sea, occasionally bringing up spray from the waves crashing below them. In the bay twinkled the last few lights of the town of Gaia and on the headland opposite a lighthouse flashed it's beam in a steady rhythm. Kurogane closed the door behind him, leaving the two of them to the sense of peace the ocean brought.

The redhead didn't say anything as he joined her by the railing, but the ninja knew she was aware of his presence. For a moment the two of them simply stared into the distance, relishing the lack of meowing. Kurogane took another swig from his glass.

"You're not drinking," he said after a moment. It wasn't a question but his tone made it clear he expected an explanation. He wanted to use this chance to try and squeeze some more information out of this secretive redhead.

"No, I'm not." She paused for a moment. "Alcohol doesn't particularly agree with me. I need to keep control of myself at all times, and that requires a lot of willpower. Being drunk tends to make one's willpower disappear. The Mesa force me to get drunk once. I didn't particularly enjoy the results."

"Is that the real reason you don't allow alcohol in this place?"

She looked sideways at him and smiled slightly. "It's one of the reasons. Cate and Ianto thought it wasn't really fair if everyone else could get pissed and I couldn't. But it can also be… unwise, for me to be in the company of certain types of drunks."

"Are you alright with them?" He jerked his head towards the room behind them.

"I note you don't class yourself as drunk," she smiled at him again, although it didn't reach her eyes. "Yes, I'm fine around them. Syaoran-san's a fun drunk and, well, Mokona is Mokona. Fai-kun isn't anywhere near as drunk as he's acting. It would take a lot more alcohol than I have to make him truly lose control of himself I think - he's like you in that respect."

Kurogane looked at her closely. He had always wondered that about the mage but he'd always managed to wriggle out of any questioning about it. This girl was certainly able to see a lot. She gave him that small smile again and turned back to her contemplation of the sea whilst the ninja continued to scrutinise her. He was mildly surprised that she seemed so calm about it. The majority of people suddenly became very uncomfortable when he turned his eyes on them like this, particularly the wizard, and yet she just stood there, almost as if she were deliberately allowing him to try and figure her out.

"You're hiding something," he accused finally.

"Of course I'm hiding something, Kurogane-san," she replied calmly, "I only met you today. I may have decided to trust you, but my past isn't so painless that I can share it with strangers."

He was slightly taken aback by her casual admittance of the secrets she was hiding. He was about to demand to know more when she cut him off.

"Please can you wait to ask me? I know you want to know, and I know you're suspicious of me; but I promise you, my secrets will bring you no harm. Besides," she added forlornly, "I won't be able to keep them secret for long. You're all far too clever for that."

She turned to him, judging his reaction, a pleading look in her eyes.

"This is the only chance I've ever had to keep my past a secret, and it's probably a chance I'll never get again. With you, I can get to know you – you can get to know _me_ without having your view tainted by knowledge of what the Mesa did to me. For the first, and probably only time in my life I can be judged for who I am, not my past. I hope you can understand that this opportunity is just too good for me to pass up. And even if that's not a good enough reason…" She paused and her eyes strayed back to the sea. "It's not that I'm trying to forget, or even trying not to remember but… My past is a painful one. It's not something I want to have to relive until it's essential for me to do so."

He stared at her for a long moment before grunting an agreement and taking another swig of drink. He saw another small smile form on her lips.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you tomorrow if you've got a hangover," she teased.

He sighed. Just like the mage. You think you've got in and then they ram the defences back up. She must have sensed his annoyance because she turned back to him.

"I'm not hiding, Kurogane. It's impossible to try and put a mask up in a country of empaths," she admonished him, "I never lie. I might not always tell the whole story, but everything I _do_ say is true. That goes for what I feel as well. To put up a mask you've got to run away from your pain, to try and ignore it, to try and forget it's there. That's what Fai does. But I _know_ just how much pain I'm in. It's there with me every second of every day. When I smile and laugh and tease, it's not because I'm trying to hide the pain. It's not because I'm trying to push it away. When I'm happy it doesn't make the pain any less.

"The last thing my mother told me, was that life is precious and beautiful and you should cherish every moment, no matter how hard it is. The pain I live with… there are times when it seems too much to bear. But this is my life and I _will not_ waste it. So I try. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how big the part of me is that wants to just give up. I smile and I laugh and I tease because I want to keep going. Because no matter how much pain I am in, I will still enjoy and cherish my life as much as I possibly can.

"So don't you ever accuse me of hiding. Don't you ever tell me I'm not making the effort to live."

Her eyes held his for a moment, darker than he had seen them before. Her words had been calm but he could sense the intensity behind them, he could tell just how much it had taken for her to say them. As she turned back to the ocean he saw a tear roll steadily down her cheek, but she made no effort to brush it away. She didn't sob, she didn't shake. Her back was straight, her head raised and her breathing calm and steady as she simply let the pain wash over her.

The silence stretched on as they simply stood there, him watching her, her watching the sea. He had misjudged her. Whatever secrets she might be keeping from them, this girl was stronger than he had given her credit for. The simple acceptance of her pain was something that unsettled him. Now that he was aware of it he could see it in her every movement, even as she took a deep breath and slowly wiped the tear tracks from her face before asking him if he wanted her to fill his glass. Her tone was friendly again, but now he could place the tiny edge her voice always seemed to have.

"How can you act like that? How can you be so cheerful if you're in as much pain as you say you are?"

She sighed. "It's not the easiest thing to do. You just sort of… accept that the pain is there, and do things anyway, _feel_ things anyway. It's not like ignoring it, or trying to distract yourself from it. It doesn't make the pain any less, but at the same time the pain doesn't make the other emotions any less important, any less powerful. I suppose it's being able to feel several different things at once, and not let them contradict each other. They're all real emotions and they're all separate, they're just all in there at once."

She looked up at him in a slightly self-conscious way. "I don't suppose that made much sense did it, Kurogane-san?" she apologised, "It's not really any easier to describe than it is to do."

He held her gaze. She was right, her explanation hadn't made much sense to him. But he was skilled enough at reading people to tell when they were lying, or hiding something from him. At this particular moment she was being entirely truthful. He decided to drop the matter.

"What is it with you and honorifics?" he asked to change the subject.

She looked confused. "What d'you mean?"

"What you call people. You call me and the kid –san, and the magician –kun, but there are times when you miss them out. And with the other people in your country you drop them altogether."

"Oh, that. In the native language of this country we don't use honorifics like you do. Everyone else would be confused if I started using them, and they probably won't use them with you – so please don't be offended."

"If that's the case why d'you bother with us?"

"You forget I was raised by a wolf, Kurogane-san. Or at least I was socially, as my social interaction before the uprising was somewhat… limited. So my own social behaviour is very much based on Emrys'. I told you before that manners are very important to a wolf, so I make sure to always try and call people by what they would most wish to be called. Unless I'm deliberately trying to tease them of course," she added with a grin, "That's very wolfish too. I don't really understand your honorifics though, I've just got a vague sense through Mokona's translation and listening to you talk, so every now and then I forget."

"You know about Mokona's translation?"

"Of course. You're all from different dimensions. How else would I be able to understand you?"

This earned her another long look. She was young, and fairly pretty the ninja supposed. It was easy to underestimate how much went on behind those ever-changing eyes. She just smiled at him, wide-eyed and innocent again. The ninja was reminded strongly of the wolf. It was a smile that quite clearly said _'I'm well aware that we both know the truth here, but really, could you ever suspect cute little me?'_. It was a look the mage often tried, although without the same conviction as the redhead and her wolf.

Kurogane sighed and turned his back to the ocean, watching instead Fai and Mokona, who were sat on the floor swaying back and forth and quite obviously singing at the top of their lungs. Thankfully the doors shut the sound out.

"I thought you said he wasn't drunk," he grunted. The damn mage looked pretty pissed to him.

"I said he's not drunk enough to lose control of himself," Kezia said with a smile as she turned to watch too, "I think he's still aware of what he's doing - at some level at least - but would just rather play along with the alcohol for now."

He gave her another long, sideways look, then sighed as he saw the two drunks attempt to refill their glasses again. Attempt being the key term – they were not particularly successful.

"I'd better get those bloody drunks to bed. If that bastard mage drinks any more he won't stop complaining tomorrow," the ninja muttered darkly.

"You take Syaoran," the redhead beside him said confidently, "I'll tackle the other two."

He looked down again, not entirely sure she was up to the task. His companions were one hell of an armful pissed.

"Don't worry," she assured him, "I have a plan. Just go with it, okay?"

He wasn't sure whether that made him feel better or not. She walked over to the door and he could see her pulling an act together.

"Oh and you'll have to scan Syaoran-san's thumb, I'm not going to have a chance to play doorman," she added.

Tch. What a pain. Then the redhead literally threw the door open with a loud cry of "MOKONA!~" and flew into the room, the manju bounding up to meet her. She met her mid-jump and hugged her tightly, swirling around on the spot. Kurogane entered more cautiously, wondering what the hell she was playing at.

"Kezi-chan!~" the wizard cried out, "Where have you been, meow? You've missed allllll the fun!~"

"We were singing!~" the white creature informed her proudly once she'd stopped spinning.

"We can still sing!" the redhead cried triumphantly, causing the manju bun to squeal with happiness. "Come on Fai-pii! Sing with us!~" She reached down and hauled the skinny mage up with her spare hand and the three of them broke out into a very loud and off key rendition of Mokona's balloon song.

Kurogane watched with exasperation that quickly turned to respect as she somehow managed to drape the wizard over one shoulder and manoeuvre them not only to the door, but out of it, scanning her and the mage's prints as she went. He could hear the three of them stumbling down the hall, still singing at the top of their voices. The ninja scooped the unconscious kid up from the sofa, pressing his thumb to the pad by the door before throwing him over his shoulder and scanning his own print.

He quickly caught up with the others whose ability to walk in a straight line was obviously impaired by drink. They were now meowing having run out of words for the song. Kezia was doing a very good impression of being as drunk as the rest of them, but when she caught his eye she winked quickly before deliberately stumbling and pushing Fai into the wall, making them all laugh outrageously. Kurogane hoped there weren't any people staying in the rooms nearby. The three of them were making one hell of a racket.

They managed to get the drunks into bed in a surprisingly short amount of time, Kezia once again deftly scanning the magician's and her own thumbs without him or the manju appearing to realise that they were even back at their rooms. Once the two of them had been safely deposited on Fai's bed she joined the ninja in the main room with a grin on her face.

"Well that was amusing!" she laughed, but quietly, not wanting to disturb those whom she'd only just managed to get into bed.

"You certainly play a good drunk," he admitted, not entirely sure whether he was annoyed with her for her actions, or impressed.

"I figured it would be the easiest way to get them back. If you chase something it will run away, but if you play along it thinks it's safe and you can do more or less whatever you want. It was actually remarkably fun," she chuckled.

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "I don't know whether you're as bad as they are, or worse."

She simply gave him her innocent smile and bid him goodnight before walking out of the door at a suspiciously fast pace. The girl was definitely hiding something.

* * *

Kezia

She almost ran back to her rooms and when she was safely within with the door closed behind her she fell against it and allowed herself to slide down it into a heap. Emrys came and pushed his head into her lap.

"That was a lot harder than I was expecting," she sighed, trying very hard to control her breathing, which was heavy as her heart raced against her ribs.

The wolf looked into her eyes for a moment, which were burning a fierce yellow. Then he gently licked her on the cheek and set off to retrieve what she needed. He didn't bother trying to open the door. There was nowhere a Dimension Wolf couldn't go if he wanted to.

* * *

Author's notes:

Cate - short for Catelyn and pronounced in the same way (Kate)

And thus ends our travellers' first day in Gaia! I have 6 more planned out, and there will be at least another two after that, so this is gonna be a long one! I hope you're enjoying reading this at least half as much as I'm enjoying writing it, and that I've managed to intrigue you with my little Kezia bit at the end here :D Please review and let me know what you think!


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